Kaz Hosaka – The Road to Greatness

By Amy Fernandez

Westminster 2024 stood out as a rare occasion where everyone agreed about the winner. That included exhibitors, judges, handlers and most of all the millions of loyal fans that still tune in every year simply because they love dogs.  The fact that the winner was another Poodle didn’t seem to matter this time. America fell in love with Sage and her handler, Kaz Hozaka. Post judging, he stood there crying his eyes out for the world to see, equally stunned, and overjoyed. That real time moment shattered so many media misconceptions of dog people as cynical opportunists. Sage was clearly delighted with the whole thing. It was a beautiful moment, and the world was witness.

That night was suddenly jettisoned into an entirely different frame of reference when we learned our sport lost a living legend. Shocking is an understatement, and that collective grief extends far outside our little world.

Kaz often said that he was getting too old for this and, more specifically, he announced his intention to retire after this, his 45th Westminster. He certainly earned the right. For decades he seemed to magically conjure one great Poodle after another–Toys, Miniatures and Standards.  GCHG Surrey Sage was his second Westminster BIS winner, and also coincidentally the great granddaughter of his first, Ch. Surrey Spice Girl, winner of Westminster 2002.

Those were not the only Surrey big winners he presented. Years earlier, he had campaigned Ch. Surrey Sweet Capsicum for Robert Koeppel, winning the Westminster Non-Sporting group in 1995. In addition to 109 groups, her record included 28 Bests and three specialty wins. His other Surrey winners over the years included Ch. Surrey in Clover, GCH Surrey Sugar And Spice, and GCH Surrey Cherry Garcia

His success with Miniatures was rivaled by his endless string of incredible white Toy Poodles, mostly imported from Japan.  They included Am. Jpn. Ch. Appli Age of North Well Chako, winner of 19 BIS and 65 groups. A few years later, he campaigned Ch. Smash JP Win A Victory, winner of back-to-back Westminster groups in 2007 and 2008. Vikki was, of course, the top dog all breeds for 2007 as well as BOB at PCA that year.  A bit earlier in 1998 he had taken the group with Ch. Dignity of Jewelry House Yoko. And in 2010, he again won the Toy Group with Walker, Ch. Smash JP Moon Walk.

Voted Japan’s top handler in 1986, his arrival in America was the classic case of luck and opportunity. Kaz rarely discussed his accomplishments or his background in dogs, but when prodded he did share some details. Like many lifelong dog lovers, dogs filled a void in his childhood after losing his mother as a young child. An only child, his father brought home a Cocker and a Dachshund for his son. Kaz also had an uncle in the dog biz, a very successful Doberman handler. When Kaz was 11, his first job was as his uncle’s kennel help/assistant.  Japan’s dog scene was relatively small in those days but it offered a glimpse into the sport. It was enough for Kaz to realize that this was home.

He was just 18 when he first visited the US in 1978. The trip proved to be both educational and amazing.  His introduction to American presentation was revelatory. The showmanship, style and glamour were something new to him.  It was also his first look at the great handlers of the day. He spent three days shadowing George Alston, Teddy Young, Jimmy Moses and Moe Miyagawa, who was then showing the unforgettable Doberman, Marienburg’s Mary Hartman.  Those were just some of the superstars that revised his concept of the game. Notably, Poodles were nowhere in his field of interest.

That changed suddenly when less than a year later, as luck would have it, Anne Rogers Clark and her husband, James Clark, arrived in Japan for a judging assignment.  Kaz, of course, knew a bit about them by then. His trip to America had introduced him to so much quality and expertise. It was far beyond anything he had encountered at Japanese shows.  His uncle showed the best of his Dobermans and ultimately won BIS. Kaz, the lowly assistant, didn’t win anything but that’s the thing about showing, never underestimate the possibilities. Annie Clark was watching like a hawk and she knew raw talent when she saw it.

A few days later, she called his uncle and asked if Kaz would like to come to the US as her new apprentice, which sounds like an almost magical opportunity. Over the years, Anne Rogers Clark mentored some of the greatest names in the sport. Her assistants went on to legendary careers as handlers and judges. On one hand, his single trip to America the previous year had provided a brief but very impressive introduction to those possibilities. On the other hand, who wants to jump at the chance to move to a different country to live with total strangers and learn a breed that was just as distant and foreign as the English language?

Kaz said no, his uncle said yes. He arrived in the US at age nineteen knowing nothing about Poodles and not a single word of English. In addition to hands-on mentoring from his boss, Kaz relied on keen observation to learn the daunting art of putting down a Poodle. A tenuous grasp of the language made that almost essential. Over the years Barbara Humphries, Mark Shanoff and Timothy Brazier were some of the Poodle experts he focused on.

It was a very hard learning curve, but it taught him patience, perseverance, craftsmanship and the crucial importance of reading your dog. Poodles are a sensitive breed and cultivating that dog/handler relationship is something that cannot be rushed or faked. And that perhaps was the thing that set Kaz apart from other handlers. He could achieve a rapport with his dogs that truly made them a team. His dogs adored him.

We tend to view genuine experts with a mix of awe and intimidation. A reputation built on consummate skill and a dazzling track record of success is the end of a long, rough road for sure. But one particular trait defines the real thing. And Kaz Hozaka had that andmore. Quiet, modest and unfailingly kind and generous, it was the greatness of his dogs that spoke for him.

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